The shadows on the side
by Captain-Creeper
Summary: This story is a collection of less elaborated things in The Darkness That Binds Us that I wont be going into detail due to the characters not knowing or already knowing the event
1. Chapter 1

(The following first three Chapters of my side project are intended to be read after Chapter three of the main project.)

Ruby had just turned sixteen the previous month and her team was currently out on an assignment to scout an area connected to the Dual Mirror Syndicate, a criminal society made up of two parts, the humans and the faunus each controlling a side, or mirror as they call themselves. Any racist disputes are solved with disciplinary measures conducted by the offended side, ensuring perfect unity.

The four were standing on top of a building overlooking a warehouse ran by the human mirror faction. Weiss was explaining how to save on dust consumption, and Ruby was polishing her beautiful scythe. Yang was throwing a few practice punches with Ember Cecilia to get pumped and Blake was studying the guard rotations and entrances to the building.

However a laugh brought them to turn behind and stare at a Boy in an ash grey suite, twirling a cane. Yang moved toward him, angry someone had snuck up, while Weiss and Ruby were battle ready and Blake was as well, but shocked her faunus senses didn't pick up on the boy.

He was short, maybe 4'9 or 5'0?

Yang entered a twenty meter distance to him, demanding to know why he came, when he swung the cane, too much distance to reach the girl, then the can shot out, expanding into a blunt metal whip and sharp tip, exactly twenty feet in length.

Yang wasn't worried, and hadn't activated her aura or semblance, thus when the spear like sharp tip made contact with the brawler's unprotected neck, there was no resistance as it sliced her throat wide open, spewing forth a torrent of blood from her jugular.

"YANG!" The girls called near instantly, Weiss firing ice spikes and fireballs at the newcomer, while Ruby and Blake switched their weapons into their gun forms and fired away.

However the boy just chuckled and swung his whip like a helicopter blade and angled it down, so it slices into the ground less than a millimeter and forms a shield against their attacks. He also channeled some aura into it to help against Weiss's dust attacks.

Blake made the mistake of trying to surprise him, leaving a clone to continue her fire, however he noticed the new bullets were just air, after noticing the only clang of gunfire was coming from the scythe wielder.

Blake took Gambol Shroud and dashed behind him, hoping for a quick slice of his neck, when he collapsed the whip near instantly and ducked, a chunk of ice hitting her in the face and knocking her onto the ground. Blake rolled backwards to get up, but once she was starting to get on her feet the boy delivered an uppercut with the cane, then smashed it down on her right leg while she was airborne, her aura shattering and her leg feeling near broken.

As Blake limped away, Weiss and Ruby had dashed forwards, but the whip lashed out, and knocked them down and they rolled to the edge of the building, only able to watch in horror as he retracted the cane, then launched it out like a compressed spear, stabbing the retreating Blake in her heart.

Weiss exploded into fury, and used several haste glyphs to speed her to the boy, aiming Myrtenaster at his chest, hoping to plunge the Rapier into him, but he sidestepped her and swung the cane into her face after a speedy retraction. Her speed combined with the force of his swing made the cane break her aura, and her skull into pieces. Weiss was bleeding internally, her brain destroyed by skull fragmentation to the front. Weiss' body kept going, smashing into the ground and bouncing all the way to the end of the building and off the edge, a sickening thump heard as her body smacked into the concrete ground around them.

Ruby then rushed out, and was met with the spear attack used on Blake, but she survived due to her aura, and sliced down at the boy, full of explosive rage, then found herself hit twice, once in the side of her head, light, not an actual hit but still with slight force, then a heavy, near skull crushing one from above into the back of her head, and her consciousness ended shortly after.

When she came to she was laid on top of her dead comrades, blood smeared on her red cloak, and her aura barely existing, flickering around her a few times as she stands up slowly and painfully, trying so hard to suppress her horrified screams at a dead and lifeless Yang and a heartless, literally, Blake, and a mangled corpse of twisted limbs that was Weiss.

Ruby's horror continued when she looked around to notice she was at the back of a sealed warehouse, and the demented boy she fought was at the other, holding a lighter, and standing next to her Crescent Rose. Next to him was a trail of finely crushed dust powder, fire crystal powder to be more precise, that lead to boxes and boxes of more red crystals.

She felt dead, and started running, which was impossible in this weakened state, so she just walked quickly, to the main door.

When the boy dropped the lighter he left, and the building turned into a heated maelstrom of explosions and flames, torrenting the building. Ruby barely escaped, her semblance not as fast as she hoped, and she had been blown past Crescent Rise, managing to catch it in mid flight, before being knocked unconscious by the wall she hit, again her forced sleep overtaking her.

Once she awoke she was in a hospital in Beacon, her weapon and cloak had sustained a good bit of scorches, and her cloak was now charred black. She visited the graves of her team mates the next day, and something snapped in her. The cheery girl JNPR and the rest of Beacon loved was gone, not completely though. She refused to lend anyone help, would never tell a joke again, and only smiled, never laughed. Every afternoon was combat training, and she started taking solo missions deemed to much even for two teams of hunters. She had a death wish that life would not grant, and she became a much stronger fighter. After six months of this she left, never to be seen again, however every now and then she would be sighted, wearing her cloak and her seared scythe.


	2. Chapter 2

The boy, a little over fifteen years, had his feet propped up on the desk in front of him, casually drinking tea, his cane rested on the office chair. The boy sat in one of the most ornate offices in all of Atlas, seconded only by the SDC (Schnee Dust Company)

He was wearing a small ash gray suit that fit him nicely, no parts of it too long or too short, and wore a matching fedora. The boy was of a thin build, and was five feet and two inches tall.

You would think he was the son of the companies' owner, but one look at what was going on outside the office, even a look from outside would give you something much different.

Outside the dark wooden double doors of the office was a cubical area being ransacked by goons in leather jackets, decency not being a big thought for some of them, and the door was guarded by two similar looking goons, holding automatic rifles, and were well clothed, not a single bit of skin showing beside their hands and faces, both having a few scars on them.

"Gentlemen, how goes the raid?" The boy from the office says, his voice cheerful and friendly"

"Wonderful boss, we got a few more hard drives to steal and we're out"

He must admit, raiding the skyscraper that had most of Yztal's military data was going swimmingly. A bit too swimmingly, almost like this was planned, let the place be raided. It dawned on him far too late however, as he was now in the top floor, of one hundred and seventy-nine, in the farthest room from the elevator, and he immediately made a dash for the elevators, everyone noticed and followed without question at the motion of the bodyguards, a thought crossed the boy's mind. They all won't be able to fit in the elevators at the same time, there were just too many of them.

Good news, that did not become an issue.

Bad news, the trap had just been set.

The building shook violently, all the supports on the first five floors were exploded by dust powder lining the insides of the support beams, concealed behind a protective piping, making sure they would have to be detonated by an explosion or electric charge, triggered by the detonator a cloaked figure on the SDC Headquarters, watching through a telescope.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK" The boy, as well as several others started swearing as the building collapsed downwards and started falling apart fast. The boy, knowing his only option, jumped out the window and quickly stabbed outward to the nearest building, his cane separating into a long whip, the tip of it collapsing quickly into itself, making it have a very pointed tip with more density from the folded in edges, and the whip's tip smashed into the side of the building and anchored, the boy swinging into the glass, shattering around him and his aura pushing away the shards so he was not cut, his whip retracts into it's cane form as he rushes over to the elevator on this floor, noticing everyone had been evacuated and he headed for the elevators on that floor, making the cane re-extend into the fifteen meter whip, which he used to cut and smash all the computers, cabinets, and everything else he could hit as he ran down the hallway, cursing several times, and as he ran the roar of the collapsing skyscraper was deafening. The 'friends' the boy brought met their end in the building, and he only survived due to a very quick passing hoverjet, most likely launched by the Atlas PD when the original explosion started.

The boy thrust his whip into the side of it as it was passing and held on tightly, the surrounding buildings of the collapsing skyscraper met a wave of rubble and were also demolished.

Once the collapse ended he jumped to the nearest stable building, using his whip to once again swing through a window, unknowing that the person who caused the explosion was watching him, and had set off to intercept him and end his life.


	3. Chapter 3

After he made it to the ground floor he took off sprinting towards the exit. Unfortunately the Atlas Police Department had started searching buildings, and three of them had burst through the door.

Quickly and void of all mercy he swung his whip at them, knocking the closer two out while the third had his throat sliced open.

The boy fled into the streets and continued striking down any in his way, most of them were in buildings or not being directly observed, so he went along unobstructed.

About Fifty one seconds later, if you're going by the ticking clock the boy carries, the ground around him was light up with heavy fire, while he turned and faced his attacker and blocked the shot with his cane.

He chuckled and smiled at the huntress attacking him, and moved up onto the roof adjacent hers, and she soon reappeared next to him in a flurry of soot stained roses, her shotgun slugs loaded and she fired them into his side, but his aura was too strong, resulting in a small grunt and a smack across her face with his cane.

"Ruby, we've done this before" He grins and winks at her, and the huntress screams and runs after him, swinging madly with her scythe, and he blocks and sidesteps them.

"Did you return so I could finish the job I started a year ago?"

"FUCK YOU!"

"Oh dear your so angry little red riding bitch" He ducks under her scythe swing and hits her in the ribs with a jab from his cane, her aura stopping a terrible injury but still making her double over, then get uppercutted by the boy's cane.

Once she was finally still, trying to calm down and fight him with some strategy, he took in the sight of her, her cloak stained with blackened ash and soot from his near perfect finale for their fight, her weapon with several areas of black stained metal from the blasts of heat, and the anger surging off what remained of her aura.

"You killed them"

"Speak up dear, what did I do?"

"YOU KILLED THEM!"

"Oh yes, your friends, the little cat and the petty princess were so much fun, I just wish I gave the brawler a chance to raise her aura, maybe I would have had more fun"

"FUCK YOU" Ruby switched her scythe to ranged mode and opened fire on him, to be met with the same whip spinning shield as the first time.

"Asshole!" Ruby charged him and was met with the spear like whip launch he used to end Blake again, and jumped over it, which he then swung up and lashed her thigh and made her spin upside down, then slammed the whip on her now facing him back and sending her into the ground.

Crescent rose spiraled across the rooftop, and he sprinted at it, but Ruby was faster and got to it first, all according to his plan.

When she came out of her semblance his whip met her face with one of the blunt parts towards the sharp tip and launched her back, and she flung the scythe so high into the air as a result. As she leapt at it she was pelted with a lightning dust crystal, shocking her as the whip broke it on her arm, the boy receiving a lesser shock, and seems unfazed by it.

"Come on Red, I have one last trick for you"

She accepted his invitation more out of rage than actual acknowledgement of his words. He leapt over her as she slashed, and she unknowingly stepped into the center of several glyphs, which suddenly created a binding of gravity in the center of the square they formed, holding Ruby in it as he lashed her with the blunt parts of the cane.

Her aura smashed apart after the first hit, then he continued about five more times before leaving as an Atlas Police Airship responded to the commotion on the roofs, finding only a bloody and gravitationally suspended Ruby.


	4. Chapter 4

(Made so many mistakes in this side story collection so far… anyways, the next one is meant for after TDTBU chapter seven, but takes place before TSOTS chapter two and after chapter one.)

The calm summer day betrayed the grief of the usually cheerful reaper, who is now a wilted rose. It had been three days since the incident that resulted in her team's death. All but hers. She was on her way back to Beacon via an airship. She didn't care enough to figure out the name of her ship and hadn't left her cabin in all those days. All she had done was cower in various corners of her room, cry, and hide under her blanket. Sometimes she did all three at once. Since she refused to leave the room to eat one of the airmen had been sliding bags containing sandwiches into her room, one every couple of hours. Her life, it was destroyed in her eyes. She had lost three very close people. Her only family that she could talk to was Yang since Qrow was always busy at his academy. She had been there to cheer her along every step of the way. Weiss was her best friend. Weiss had helped her develop social skills, work on her dust and aura control, as well as try and instill some form of manners in her, but that didn't stick. And then there was Blake. Probably the heaviest pain in her chest. Blake had been there almost as much as Yang, a lot more often as they entered their second year. Things had heated up between them in the best of ways, Ruby's heart would flutter each time they were alone on the roof at night. While nothing major had happened yet, just some flirting, both physical and otherwise, Ruby had been planning to ask Blake out once they got their lien from their mission. That dream had been broken, impaled, and heated up in the worst of ways.

When they arrived Ruby didn't wait to be told. In a burst of speed from her semblance and most of the aura she possessed she rocketed towards Ozpin's office, passing Goodwitch, who scoffed, knowing the flurry of red was from Ruby. Goodwitch had her work cut out, she had to oversee the final preparations for the bodies of the fallen, while also having to break the news to their parents. The worst part of being Ozpin's assistant is handling things like this. That she even had to do this was what pissed her off the most. And that annoying huntress wannabe caused this. She assumed Ruby was in perfect health when she flashed by, leaving the rose petals everywhere. What she didn't notice was the black stains on all of them, in no specific pattern.

Ruby burst into Ozpin's office and landed on the left half of his desk, knocking off most of the things on it and making Ozpin stop as he was raising up his mug.

"Miss Rose?"

A small sob comes from her and she curls up tightly on the desk.

"Ruby, are you alright?"

She shakes her head and holds back her tears. While waiting for her to calm down Goodwitch came into the room.

"Miss Rose."

Ozpin gave her a warning glare.

Goodwitch took in the view of Ruby, on Ozpin's desk, curled up into a ball. She had no visible injuries, no bruises that she could see. Her head looked fine, her hands were ok, and had no evidence of scarring or burn damage. So she came to a simple conclusion. It wasn't a fight against a powerful opponent that got her team killed, it was her own stupidity. What she didn't know, and what only five people knew, was that when Ruby uses her aura to try and heal her wounds, then activates her semblance, it causes a very exhausting, yet very quick and effective healing. Her hands and face used to have burn marks on them, yet over the course of three days she had fully healed.

Not something Goodwitch knew.

"Miss Rose, you have failed your school and your team."

"Goodwitch"

"You have disgraced the name of Beacon"

"Goodwitch!"

"And have proven that you do not belong among it's members!"

"GLYNDA GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Finally, Ozpin had been loud enough to be heard by Goodwitch, who had tuned him out knowing he would try to stop her with words.

"B- but"

"GET OUT! I WILL NOT LET YOU STAND THERE AND INSULT AND HARASS A STUDENT OF MY SCHOOL! You should know better, now get out of my office."

Reluctantly, Glynda Goodwitch retreats, and once she is gone Ruby begins crying, having felt quite a sting with each word.

"Ruby"

Nothing but choked sobs.

"Ruby"

More sobbing.

Ozpin did the only thing he could think of and rubbed her arm, trying to comfort her. This was to no avail in the short term, but after the worser half of an hour she had calmed down enough to not be crying.

"Go get some sleep Ruby, we'll talk in the morning.

Ruby wandered down the halls to her team dorm. Thankfully all the students were in class.

Despite popular opinion one girl was not in class, and smacked into Ruby on accident while making a mad dash toward the classroom, making her drop her spear, which she hastily picked up and apologized while on the run to class.

"Sorry Talon and I spent too much time in the training hall please forgive us!" She yells so the reaper could hear her. Ruby then walked into the room and shuts the door.


End file.
